"We’re paying more, but we’re getting more help. But even with that help, costs here are higher."

New Jersey residents who qualified for federal subsidies to buy health insurance have the highest monthly premiums — $148 — of any state using the federal marketplace, a new report shows.

They also receive, however, some of the most generous subsidies, or monthly tax credits, to help reduce their overall cost. While the average monthly premium offered by the three companies selling Affordable Care Act policies in New Jersey was $465, the average subsidy here was $317.

The state-by-state numbers were released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Affordable Care Act. It analyzed data from the 34 states, including New Jersey, that use the federal website, HealthCare.gov, to sign up.

Some states do not use the federal website and manage their own system.

The reason for the high numbers in New Jersey is simple, said Joel Cantor, director of the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University: Health care in New Jersey is very expensive.

"We’re paying more, but we’re getting more help," he said. "But even with that help, costs here are higher."

State law limits how much profit an insurance company can make, so the high cost doesn’t represent an unreasonable profit, he said. Nor are the state’s administrative costs that much higher than elsewhere. It’s the actual cost of health care that drives up price — a problem the Affordable Care Act hasn’t yet made much progress on, said Cantor.

"The big question is, ‘How do we solve the affordability problem?’ We’ve come a long way, but most would argue we haven’t solved it. There’s still a huge problem of underlying costs," he said.

A health insurance industry spokesman agreed.

"What are we doing wrong in New Jersey? It’s simple: High hospital and provider charges result in high premiums," said Ward Sanders, president of the New Jersey Association of Health Plans, the trade group for insurance carriers.

"Remember, New Jersey has the hospital with the highest charges in the nation — Bayonne Hospital — and many other hospitals and providers that choose to be out of network and have high charges. If the hospital charges $14,000 for four stitches in the ER, it’s a cost we all end up paying."

Cantor cited other factors as well: the use of specialists for treatment, as well as a high use of hospitals.

New Jersey consumers buying subsidized policies ended up with the highest after-subsidy monthly bill because of a double whammy: Insurance is expensive here, yet incomes are high relative to the rest of the country.

So while Wyoming residents faced a sky-high average premium of $536 — the result of high hospital costs for lack of competition — they qualified for higher subsidies based on their income. That brought their overall average cost down to $113 a month, well below New Jersey’s after-subsidy bill.

Nationwide, consumers had a lot of choices for policies, said the HHS policy analysts discussing the report. Only 4 percent were limited to just one carrier selling plans in their state or region. The majority had anywhere from three to 11 companies offering products.

New Jersey has three: Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, AmeriHealth, and Health Republic of New Jersey. They each offer several varieties of plans with different prices and cost-sharing.

In New Jersey, 45 percent of enrollees who qualified for subsidized marketplace plans had premiums of $100 a month or less, and 20 percent of $50 a month or less.

"Consumers have more choices, and they’re paying less for their premiums," said newly confirmed HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell. "When there is choice and competition, everybody benefits."